When Getting it Right is Important. Come to London Drugs!

Changes to Canadian Passports

As of July 1, 2013, all new Canadian passports issued will be 36-page electronic passports, or ePassports. At that time, applicants age 16 and older will have the option of applying for a passport with 5- or 10-year validity for both first-time applications and renewals, while children's ePassports will be issued for a maximum of 5 years. Prices will be increased to $120 for a 5 year passport.

The Canadian ePassport looks like a regular passport, but has new security features that make the passport even more tamper-proof:

An electronic chip embedded in the back cover stores the same personal information that you see on page 2 of the passport (except for the signature), the photo and a digital security feature that proves the passport was issued by the Government of Canada.

New images in the inside pages celebrate Canada and serve as extra security features.

Protecting your information

When information is first stored on the e-chip in the passport, the e-chip is electronically locked so that your information cannot be tampered with. No additional information about you or your travels will be stored on the e-chip.

Passport Photos that Pass the Test

Renewing your passport is like running an obstacle course: fill out forms, get signatures, find documents, and have a photo taken that will pass the strict government requirements. After jumping through these hoops, you have the pleasure of waiting in line, hoping that everything is perfect when you get up to the wicket.

High Standards: Anatomy of a Passport Photo

It seems like such a simple task: take one picture of a face. But there's a lot more to a passport photo than meets the eye.

Your passport photo must conform to strict quality standards. Take a look at the rules:

Size: Depending on the Government requirements, sizes of photos can vary.

Light Quality: Your photo must be evenly lit, with no shadows, glare, or flash points.

Facial position: Your face must be within the size and centred in the photo.

Body position: Your shoulders must be square to the camera, and the photo taken straight on.

Facial expression: Your expression must comply with the requirements of the Government requirements.

Photo quality: The picture must be clear, sharp, and in focus, taken by a professional photographer, printed on photo paper

Background: Governments worldwide have different requirements regarding what colour the background must be.

Biometric Technology

You're not alone; we can simplify things for you. Every London Drugs store follows the strict guidelines set out by Passport Canada, as well as other government departments that require photo identification. London Drugs is the first retailer to offer new biometric technology from Europe that automatically analyzes each photo according to purpose and country, to ensure the highest possible accuracy. For example, if you need to renew your government-issued ID from your native country, you can rest easy knowing that London Drugs has the technology to produce the photo to your home country’s EXACT specifications—eliminating worry that your application may be rejected.

Your privacy is secure. The system software only checks your facial image against government specifications to ensure accuracy of the photo, and the speed at which it does that means a much more efficient photo process.

The result: consistent, quality passport photos that follow the rigorous guidelines of the Canadian government, and governments around the world.

Your time is worth money—our $50 guarantee

We are so confident in the quality of our passport photos using our new biometric technology, we offer you the London Drugs $50 Quality Guarantee. If your London Drugs passport or identification photo is declined for quality reasons, we will refund your purchase, retake the photo, and give you a $50 London Drugs gift card for your inconvenience.

When we take your passport photo, we give you the London Drugs quality checklist so you can be assured that we've done our best to meet government standards. You can also obtain an optional printed certificate—the Biometric Passport/ID Check Print—showing all test results so you can see that it passed.

For more information about passport photos, other government ID photos, and the London Drugs $50 Quality Guarantee, drop by our Photolab and ask our experts.

Resources

Helpful Link - Canada: If you need a passport application form, click on the link below for the on-line version. This will link you to the Passport Canada site where you can also find useful information on guarantors, passport specifications, fees, processing times and points of service.

Check out the Passport Canada on-line application to see how you can save time when going to the passport office.

Helpful Link - Other Countries: This is the most comprehensive passport and visa photo requirements website for passport requirements around the world. It provides you with the dimensions, quantity and other country by country requirements for both passport and visa photographs. Users have the option of simply using the information in the summary box, or by clicking on the PASSPORT and VISA icons to take them to actual country information about the photo size, number and content required.